Three Times The Love and Chaos
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Set several months after the sixth season premiere, "Aftershock". Cooper and Charlotte's life together has shifted dramatically, and they're dealing with the changes.


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Private Practice and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

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Proving once again to be a surprise to their parents, the King-Freedman triplets came into the world three weeks early, but healthy and crying. They were immediately sent to the NICU as a precaution, but quickly proved they didn't have to be there. Other than Charlotte, Cooper, and Addison, the first person to meet them was Mason.

He stared at the babies in shock and awe. "Those are my little sisters?" Charlotte and Cooper had been preparing him for months for the triplets' arrival, but they had still worried about his reaction. They were glad he already seemed to adore them.

"Yes, they are." Charlotte smiled. She was still unsure of being a mother and raising these babies, but they were here now and she had to deal with it. She and Cooper had been trying to deal with this for months and still weren't ready, but they'd get there. And now they had to names to pick. Charlotte and Cooper had been debating names for a long time, especially after it was clear the pregnancy was sticking. However, they had had a hard time coming up with anything they could agree on, especially since they had to choose three different combinations. Luckily, they had a plan for one of them.

"So, Mason, how do you feel about naming one of your sisters? Momma and I can't decide, and we want your help." Cooper still had a hard time grasping that he was now a father of four. He certainly hadn't expected this when Charlotte had first announced her pregnancy, especially as they had been worried about a miscarriage. It was surreal.

He gasped in happiness. "I get to pick one of the names? Yes! It's going to be perfect and you'll love it! But you have to let me think. Do you still have that baby names book somewhere? I can't wait to tell Lucy!" Lucy was his current girl friend and possibly maybe even more. Nobody was really sure yet.

"Momma got to pick one name and I got to choose the other. We can't veto the names either, so don't worry about your choice." After realizing that they couldn't come to a consensus, Charlotte and Cooper had decided right before her C-section that the three of them could just choose a name for each baby and be done with it. And they promised they wouldn't fight over them.

"What's veto mean?" Mason reluctantly took his eyes of his newborn sisters to look at his parents in confusion.

"Veto means that we can choose to disregard something. But that's not what we're doing here, Mase."

"Do the other two babies have a name yet?" He wanted to see what they had chosen before he decided. This was an important job, one that he really didn't want to mess up.

Charlotte and Cooper gave each other a look. "Yes, we have." Cooper pointed to the baby in the middle and she cooed. "That is Johanna Molly King-Freedman. I named her. She was the second baby born." He hadn't been able to decide between Johanna and Molly at first because he loved both names, but Charlotte had pointed out that he could use them. Then it was the matter of which was first. He had finally settled on Johanna Molly instead of Molly Johanna because he liked it more.

Charlotte pointed to the baby on the left. "And that is the third born baby. Her name is Trinity Katherine." Like Cooper, she had had problems trying to select a name before it had come to into a dream during a short nap. She realized she loved it and decided to go with her gut.

"So Johanna Molly and Trinity Katherine. Huh. Can I think about this for a little while?" Mason couldn't come up with the name out of the blue – He wanted it to mean something.

"Of course you can. Take all the time you need."

"But not too much time. She shouldn't be nameless for too long." Charlotte ignored the glare her husband sent her way. She had just given birth to three babies – He didn't get to be mad at her when she had done all the work – Carried them for eight months and having to deal with every symptom under the sun. And she was glad to finally be off bed rest. The entire pregnancy had been exhausting, but the past month had been the worst of them all.

Mason leaned over and kissed each of the babies. "I love you. And I promise you that you'll have a name soon, little one." He hoped they liked whatever his choice was going to be. Cooper escorted his son out of the room and everyone else filed in to meet the newest members of the group. It took two days to come up with a name, but after pouring through multiple baby name books, the right one finally hit Mason at lunch. He impatiently waited the rest of the afternoon to tell his family.

"Drumroll please." Addison (and everyone else) mimicked drums as they waited for Mason to reveal his little sister's name.

He was beaming. "Her name is Grace Caroline!" He loved the names, and it went perfectly with Johanna and Trinity. He hoped he hadn't messed the choice up.

Charlotte couldn't help but grin. "That's a good name, kiddo. I like it." Now that she thought about it, the first baby looked like a Grace. She wasn't a big fan of virtue names, but she was willing to let it slide. After all, she had used Trinity.

"So, they are Grace, Johanna, and Trinity King-Freedman. That works." Violet definitely approved of the name choices – Not that it mattered. The girls weren't her children.

"And you said that Grace and Johanna are identical, but Trinity is fraternal?" Mason had been told that fact multiple times, but he just wanted to make sure.

Cooper nodded. "That is right." He loved that his son had repeatedly decided to ask questions during this time – He was curious, and that was something he and Charlotte encouraged.

A few days later, Charlotte and the triplets were finally released from the hospital. Addison was happy with the babies' weights, which had been a little on the small side, but they had been gaining since their birth. It was progress.

"I can't tell you how glad I am to be home right now." Charlotte loved working in the hospital, but she hated being a patient there. She had had a few flashbacks of her time there after the rape and just desperately needed to escape the situation.

There wasn't going to be peace and quiet in the new King-Freedman house, however. After realizing that Charlotte wasn't going to miscarry any of the babies and they were going to have to raise four kids, they decided they couldn't live in their apartment anymore. It had taken a little while, but they had finally found the perfect house for them – Five bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was nice and spacious and each of the kids got their own room. Of course, the triplets were sharing one nursery for now since it was easier to have them all in one place.

Trinity started crying less than ten minutes after they walked through the door. Charlotte's maternal instincts – which she had been insisting that she didn't have – kicked in and she immediately recognized it as the hungry cry. She began to feed her youngest daughter. Unfortunately, Trinity's crying set off Johanna and Grace. Addison, who had followed them home, stepped in to help Cooper with the other two babies. Jake sent Mason to get a board game so they could play and the pre-teen wouldn't feel left out. It took about half an hour, but the triplets finally settled down and went back to sleep.

"I'm ready to pass out right now. This is exhausting." Charlotte just wanted to curl up in her nice bed and sleep forever. It sounded really good right about now.

"So am I, actually." Cooper loved his children, but he missed work. He had taken a few weeks off for paternity leave, however. He didn't want to Charlotte alone with the girls – She'd go nuts.

About three hours after Charlotte, Cooper, and the triplets got home, Violet and Lucas stopped in for a quick visit. "You two make some really beautiful babies. Aren't they cute, Lucas?" Violet couldn't help but be happy for her friends, although she was still sad without Pete. She was beginning to move on, though.

Lucas nodded in agreement and took off with Mason. "He just left without finishing our game." Jake didn't care all that much, but he had lost multiple games to the kid and this was the one time he was winning.

Addison laughed at her boyfriend. "It's okay, hon. We can play games later, and I'll let you win."

"I very much look forward to that." He kissed her and then put the game away, planning to challenge Mason again later. He was not about to go undefeated again.

Henry giggled from his position on the couch, and Addison picked the toddler up. Jake tickled him. "Is he being silly with you, Henry? Huh? What is he doing?" She stopped herself from referring to Jake as Henry's daddy. They were getting close to that point, however, and she really didn't mind. He was doing a great job helping her raise Henry, which wasn't a surprise. He did have a daughter, after all. She wasn't about to mention that Grace, Johanna, and Trinity were making her long for another baby. They didn't need to go down that road, especially since Henry was still just a baby already. She'd just get her fix with the triplets.

Jake eyed her knowingly. He was feeling the exact same things at her, and wouldn't mind another kid. He loved Henry like he was his own, and a third kid wouldn't change much between him and Addison. But they probably should wait a while. The words were out of his mouth before he knew what he was doing, however. "You want another one of these someday?"

Addison looked over at him and tried not to start crying. "You really mean that?" She loved Jake, and they were already a family. She adored his daughter, and the feeling was mutual.

He nodded. "I love you. Of course I do. But maybe not for another year or so?"

"I'm completely fine with that. I love you, too." She laughed and kissed him again, then snuggled in next to him as Henry started babbling.

Eventually, everyone else left to go home, and Charlotte, Cooper, and Mason were left alone with the newborns for the first time. The triplets woke them all up about six times that night. Charlotte finally gave up around 5:30 and decided to start her day. While the girls were still napping, she took a quick shower and ate breakfast. And after sending Mason off to school, Charlotte and Cooper started trying to figure out a system to care for Johanna, Grace, and Trinity.

They quickly figured out that Johanna and Grace slept better when they were paired together – Probably a result of sharing the same placenta for eight months. Trinity slept better when her mobile was playing, but that unfortunately kept Johanna and Grace awake. It was an extremely stressful situation.

It was around 5:30 the next afternoon when Charlotte finally snapped and burst into tears. Multiple feedings, diaper changes, and the lack of sleep were taking a toll on all three of them. At least Mason had the chance to escape to school and was gone for most of the day.

"I'm going over to my friend Jack's house. His mom is picking me up! I'll see you tomorrow after school!" Mason bolted out of the room faster than his parents had ever seen him go. Normally, they would have protested at him staying at a friend's house on a school night, but they were too exhausted to say anything.

"I don't know how to do this," Charlotte sobbed as Grace wailed in her arms. Raising triplets was ten times harder than they had expected it to be, and they had figured they were going to be dealing with a lot of work. This was nothing compared to the nightmares they had had when she was pregnant.

"And you think I do? I fell asleep in the shower this morning. Or was it last night? I can't even remember!" Cooper couldn't even remember if he had made dinner.

Charlotte calmed down a little. "I think we need help. We were stupid to think we could do this ourselves. We're running ourselves ragged."

"What do you want? A nanny? Because I know I was against one originally, but I'm completely up for that now. Go find a nanny." Cooper would hire multiple nannies if he could just sleep for more than ten minutes without a baby crying and demanding their attention.

"It'll take too long to find a nanny, but I'll be searching for one – or two – when I can keep my eyes open. We need one of our friends. Preferably someone childless so we don't have another kid underfoot." She just hoped Amelia agreed to come over and help them temporarily.

Luckily, she did. "Are you kidding me? I offered my help to you two months ago and you turned me down. You were stubborn and insisted you could do this by yourselves. Who's laughing now, bitches?"

Charlotte would have rolled her eyes if she didn't feel like that would have made her pass out. "Well, you were right and we were wrong. Happy now? Please just take one of the little girls and help us." Raising triplets was even more a nightmare than she had imagined, but that was okay. Amelia was there to help.

Amelia picked up Trinity. "Hi there, you. You look upset. What's the matter, huh?" She started rocking the baby back and forth, and Trinity finally calmed down.

"I am going to fucking love you forever for this." Charlotte kissed her forehead and then escaped into the kitchen to think for a few minutes.

"So, I'll stay as long as you guys need me. I don't really mind helping you out." Charlotte was one of her best friends, and she'd do anything to help her.

Charlotte stealthily went into the nursery around nine to watch Trinity, Grace, and Johanna sleep. She used the pillow she had been given at the baby shower and scooped all three of them into it as she sat down on the rocking chair. "You three are amazing and beautiful. Now, I didn't want to be a momma and I'm still not sure how I feel about motherhood, but I love all three of you. And your daddy and I are going to try and do our best. Just take it easy on us?" Johanna whimpered, but then quieted down. "Yeah, I know. That's a pipe dream, huh? Well, you and your brothers are it for us. I sent Daddy in for a vasectomy because this isn't happening again. Still unsure of how it did, but that's in the past. I'm your momma and we'll take care of you. You don't have to worry about anything." She kissed them all and then placed them in their bassinets. Charlotte switched the baby monitors back on and then returned to her and Cooper's bedroom.

The next eighteen years in the King-Freedman house were going to be rough and chaotic, but mostly happy.

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**Author's Note**: I'm a little wary about what's going to happen considering Shonda's track record with pregnancies, but in the meantime, I'm going to write fluff with Cooper, Charlotte, Mason, and the triplets. Still can't believe she's having three babies. Hope you enjoyed!


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